ATTENTION:

I have moved my activity to the noticeably spiffier icanliftacarblog.com
Please continue to peruse these old posts, if you wish. I won't be deleting them, but they have been imported over to the new site.
New site. New goals. New tunes.
Let's keep moving.

tongue full of acid, a lung full of nicotine

Here's what you need to know:

•  Cass Lowe has written and produced for artists like Toddla T, Chance The Rapper, Say Lou Lou, Diana Vickers, Madeon(!!), and, wait for it, the Backstreet Boys. 

•   So one could say that he's gifted at crafting huge...Larger Than Life pop anthems that will move you emotionally. 

•  Cass Lowe has a new single called "Birthmark".
  
  
  
  "Birthmark" is a massive, dark, soaring pop song and Lowe's voice leaves absolutely nothing to be desired. If all of his solo stuff sounds like this, I would be a very happy camper. Also, the music video is a gorgeous and fittingly dark piece of art. Here's hoping Cass Lowe produces a full album of amazing.

do just what you want with me i'll be what you want me to be

So...Eli "Paperboy" Reed has been making music for almost a decade now, but it wasn't until the lyric video for his new single, "WooHoo", surfaced on The Burning Ear that I found out about his soulful awesomeness.



"WooHoo" dances dangerously along the line that divides funk and pop, resulting in a jam that sounds like the lovechild of Bruno Mars and James Brown. This thing will have you movin' and shakin' and shuckin' and jivin' your way through the day. If the infectious beat isn't enough, the pure saccharine energy of Reed's vocal performance will surely win you over.



If you want more from Reed, he's released three (THREE?!) albums that your ears should take in. Also, here's his doo-wop style cover of Beyonce's "Love On Top" that THE QUEEN herself has signed off on.

High voltage when we kiss.

I feel like I'm late to the Bad Suns party. Their debut single (and only official song to date) came out in February. So it's just been floating around the net, getting blog attention from a few of my favorites, The Burning Ear and Neon Gold, before finding its way to me. And being from LA, these dudes got tons of well-deserved love from KROQ whenever their single drop.



This song is absolutely perfect for anyone that digs Imagine Dragons, X Ambassadors, or Ghost Beach. It fits right in to that neat little niche that alternative radio stations love and that I completely adore. With its slow-burning start and catchy-as-all-hell chorus, "Cardiac Arrest" is a listening staple for me at the moment.



The song is available for purchase on their bandcamp. But, of course, you can always stream from their soundcloud and like them on Facebook.

Christopher The Conquered & H.D. Harmsen @ Bullhorn Creative

The NoLi Friday Concert series continues tonight at Bullhorn Creative tonight at 5PM. Come out and enjoy some BBQ from J. Renders. Some beer courtesy of the peeps at Bullhorn. And some tunes from Christopher The Conquered and H.D. Harmsen. The show is completely and entirely free.

If you'll remember, I've written about Christopher The Conquered and his album, The Fate Of A Good Man, before. As a reminder, here's his tune "Life Is Not Always Easy." Tonight, he'll be playing solo.



Opening for Christopher The Conquered, we have his buddy H.D. Harmsen. A fellow popsmith from Iowa, he and H.D. have been traveling and playing together for a while. Here's the titular tune off his new album Papoose.



The show starts around 5PM in the Bullhorn backlot, which is located at 804 N. Limestone (corner of Loudon and N. Limestone). See you there.

Introducing: Eddie Gomez

Eddie Gomez may be on to something. The Oregonian-raised, LA-based singer/songwriter has taken an older style and dressed it up for today. With a soulful stomp and a catchy chorus, his tune "Someday" has burned itself into my brain. Produced by the currently ON FIRE Captain Cuts crew (the Smallpools EP and several killer remixes), this tune is going places.



It's already been featured by Pigeons & Planes and Perez Hilton. I wouldn't be surprised to here it climb up some adult contemporary charts. Lovers of Amos Lee and Lenny Kravitz, look into this dude.

Eddie Gomez on
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
SOUNDCLOUD

All I wanna do is live in ecstasy.

When John Gourley, the man behind indie-rock powerhouse Portugal. The Man, was asked how he wanted his next album to feel, he said:

"We just wanted to make something that was The Beatles meets Wu-Tang." (Pigeons & Planes)

Well, they accomplished something close to their goal with Evil Friends, a wholly amazing album. Their most pop-centric album to date, Evil Friends was the product of the band working with producer extraordinaire Brian Burton AKA Danger Mouse. This is important because Danger Mouse has done amazing work on albums for Gnarls Barkley (which he was half of, by the way), The Black Keys, Gorillaz, and Beck. With his feet firmly planted in both the indie rock and hip-hop worlds, Danger Mouse was the perfect man to lead PTM down this road. The most potent pop concoction they created in the lab was their "let's get famous so we don't have to work" anthem, "Purple, Yellow, Red, and Blue."

Considering Portugal. The Man's hip-hop sensibilities, producer/mash-up artist Terry Urban decided to bridge the gap with a mash-up album called Portugal. The Man & Friends combining PTM and some of his favorite rappers (Jay-Z, Kanye, Biggie, and J. Cole). The entire five-track album is up for free download on his soundcloud.

My personal favorite is "Purple Night," which mashes up "Purple, Yellow, Red, and Blue" with Jay-Z's "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)" off his Dynasty: Roc La Familia album. It manages to keep the essence of the PTM track while adding the swagger of a younger pre-Bey Hova.

There's no sun today, but, hey, I'm out to play.

It's been a long and fruitful few weeks out in LA. I don't have a lot to tell about GRAMMY Camp or the days thereafter. I'm just looking forward to getting back in the swing of things here on the blog.

New music has been flying in. I'm working on a review for Bad News Bears, a possible collaboration with All Things Go, continuing the concert series, doing an interview or two, and, of course, my scavenging never stopped.

A quick sample, here: Sombear's debut album dropped last Tuesday and it's everything I wanted. That's right. Brad Hale, the drummer for the Now, Now is back with a full album of electropop and chillwave goodness. If you need to be reminded what Sombear sounds like, try to imagine if CHVRCHES were led by a guy...or just check out my first post on them. The songs range from ethereal, skying pop to laid-back chillwave. It's a great summer album and there's a free stream of the entire album over at Consequences Of Sound that I highly recommend.

Bonus! He'll be playing the following tour dates with Dessa from Doomtree:

9/14 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
9/15 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
9/17 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott
9/19 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live
9/21 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose
9/22 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
9/23 – Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
9/26 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar <------- I'll be there (probably)
9/27 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement

Recommended Tracks: "Incredibly Still", "LA" (post title lyrics), "Love You In The Dark", "The Good"

You wait for the sun to make the sky.

St. Lucia, the nom-de-tune of electropop artist Jean-Philip Grobler, is known throughout the blogosphere for his sunshine-laced synths and breeze-laden bass lines. Born and bred in South Africa, Grobler grew up singing in a traveling choir and spending his free time singing along to MJ.

The self-titled debut EP made waves with the single "All Eyes On You," which became nationally known by being featured in campaigns for both Victoria's Secret and Taco Bell.



With his first full length record, When The Night, on its way in October from Neon Gold Records, St. Lucia is poised to make a splash on the big stage with the release of his first single "Elevate". The song absolutely oozes summer and should take its rightful place on your seasonal playlist.

Your thoughts surrounding me

Honestly, I don't know how Dan Croll hasn't taken over the world. The Liverpudlian has charm out the wazoo, he's good looking, and he had the skills to be a professional rugby player until an injury forced his early retirement. On top of all that, he writes, plays, and sings music that toes the line between electropop and folk.

He first surfaced in September of last year with his single "From Nowhere", which leans more to the pop side of things, and then putting out the "From Nowhere" - EP.



Since then he's come storming back with the single and video for the much more folky "Compliment Your Soul". The video features him and his band jamming out in a museum while the horns and happiness kick in around them.



Just this week he dropped another tune, "In/Out", which hits much more on the electropop side of things. It's more than worth a listen. Get your ears on this before everybody catches on.

Cocaine 80's

Cocaine 80's, a hip-hop collective, was started by No I.D. and regularly features the awesomeness of Common, James Fauntleroy, Rob Kinelski, Kevin Randolph, Steve Wyreman, and Makeba. It's understandable that this isn't a super recognizable list of names, but you really should familiarize yourself with this group because of the following reasons:

1. All of their EP's (there's four) are available as free downloads. That particular link has all of the downloads bundled.

 2. They make feel-good chilled out alt-R&B when led by James Fauntleroy. Check out "Unchain Me/Love 3x".



3. Do I have to say that everything they've ever released is free again?

While there was still sense in my mind.

Smallpools has finally released a second song. And it's doozy. It's called "Mason Jar" and it completely recaptures the original magic of "Dreaming".



These LA dudes conjure up comparisons to the likes of Passion Pit and Two Door Cinema Club, with vocals that sound a little like fun. These guys have nigh on infinite pop potential and their upcoming debut EP release (JULY 16TH!!!) is marked on my calendar in red.

Also, I'll be seeing them on their first ever live tour which happens to actually stop within reasonable driving distance of me. So...you could say I'm a little psyched.

Introducing: How Sad

The name How Sad doesn't really fit a band that's just so damn happy sounding. These Montreal peoples got together in early 2012, made a name for themselves in Canada, then set about touring with awesome peeps like Darwin Deez (OMG LOVE) and Purity Ring (SWOON). Their shrink-wrapped synth pop is summer-ready, or at least the one song they've released to the interwebs is. That song is called "Indian Summer" and it does not disappoint. It's sunny as all get out, so you should probably put on AT LEAST some SPF 30 to avoid a burn.



"Indian Summer" is the first single and title track off their upcoming debut EP which will be coming out in August. These guys will be popping up on your radar soon enough, why not get a head start?

California Feeling

Tomorrow, I'm going to California to work for the GRAMMY Foundation as a counselor at their GRAMMY Camp for two weeks. It's going to be a crazy experience for sure. I have no clue what my downtime will be like, or if there will be much of it at all. So this could very well be my last post for two weeks. I decided to be cheesy.

 It's A B & The Sea with "California Feeling". The lyrics are awesome. The sound is summer.  Their debut album, Constant Vacation, that came out last year is incredibly awesome and highly recommended. It's beach pop for indie ears.

We're all dying young and dreaming. 

Give 'em a name that they'll remember. 

That California feeling that we could live forever. 

This California feeling: running from the sunrise. 

I'm here with you believing that each kiss could be the last kiss of our lives. 

 

If I don't get to post over the next two weeks, expect a slew of new stuff when I get back. I have some great ideas for new features and stuff. Just no time to implement them right now. Catch you later, sports fans.

Everything I do I do in slow motion.

PHOX is a seven-piece folk-pop group coming out of Madison, WI. Powered by the stellar vocals of Monica Martin, PHOX has found a way to somehow mix the magic of the cup scene from Pitch Perfect with all of your favorite indie pop in their song "Slow Motion." It's catchy, mysterious, quirky, and curiously inviting.



That song, "Slow Motion," is off their Confetti - EP, which is available as a free download on their bandcamp (HERE). They also released the EP as a full 30-minute video (HERE).

The rest of their EP flutters in between smoky and soulful numbers like "Barside" and adorable piano-fueled pop ("Noble Heart"). No matter what your taste, you should definitely download this EP. It's amazing.

Introducing: Fire in the Hamptons

Fire in the Hamptons reminds me of another band a whole lot. That band is Neon Trees. Like Neon Trees, F.I.T.H. manages to rock while also being dance floor friendly. These LA boys have got it figured out and have apparently been flying under the radar for almost three years.
Their song "I Met A Girl" undoubtedly rocks. It sounds like a stray Black Keys song that somebody added synthesizers to.



Fire in the Hamptons has released a self-titled album, that I will totally be getting my ears on soon, and a few music videos. My favorite of which is "Stargazer". It's spacey electrorock at its finest.



Of course, don't forget to check out "Humanimal", which has been featured by KCRW, one of the tastemaking radio stations in LA.

Guns hidden under our petticoats.

Okay, so I found out about The 1975 back in October when they released the video for "Sex". I was enraptured by them. I listened to both of their EP's nonstop for weeks. Then came their "Music For Cars" - EP and that was the end of the story. They had solidified themselves as one of my favorite bands. Their uniquely British brand of indie pop wavers between airy, ethereal, spacey tunes and the occasional ridiculously perfectly crafted pop song.



The "Sex" - EP is practically flawless. While "Sex" is what caught my initial attention, the slow jam "You" is definitely my favorite track.



The 1975 have since released another EP (IV) in anticipation of a full album, likely made up of tracks from each of the EP's they've released, in September. The point of this post is to promote the song "Chocolate", whose lyrics grace the title of this post. It's the iTunes FREE single of the week, and you should totally download it.



CLICK HERE for the iTunes single link.